Gennadi Rozhdestvensky – Alto CD

Rachmaninov: Symphony No.2 in E minor (UNEDITED)

amuletts — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 23:41:51 +0000

“sings the socks off most versions and stands out from the crowd. I guarantee this will rekindle that first fresh shimmer of discovery, that tremor of the heart, that spine-tingling indicator that tells you what it was to live the recreation of this music.” (MusicWeb) “plenty of vitality…big string melodies blossoming voluptuously, the slow movement, after a beguiling opening clarinet, has a climax of spacious intensity, its power almost overwhelming….a most satisfying account” ((c) Penguin Guide 3 stars) “in this great Symphony he emphasizes the Tchaikovskian inheritance … a spacious reading on the biggest scale, the ebb and flow of rubato and tension … always spontaneously convincing helped by the spectacularly ample recording with full bass and sumptuous strings. The brooding opening… under-pinned with Russian melancholy, immediately sets the romantic feeling” ((c) Gramophone)

[1] Largo-Allegro moderato 24:30
[2] Allegro molto 11:13
[3] Adagio 15:09
[4] Allegro vivace 15:20

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No.4 / Serenade for Strings

amuletts — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 23:36:57 +0000

On Rozhdestvensky’s recorded versions of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4: “First-class… a very striking performance, Russian in feeling yet… never going over the top… holds back his big guns… slow movement is phrased very evenly… scherzo is like an arabesque, the string pizzicatos light and gentle. … Then the finale bursts on the listener… with its power to shock at that first fortissimo”
— Gramophone

Gennadi Rozhdestvensky is one of the most eminent and revered conductors of the day. Born in 1931, he began conducting only a few years after the end of World War II and became one of the world’s most popular Soviet era conductors as a result not only of tours with Soviet orchestras but the first Soviet conductor — a novelty at the time — ever to be appointed principal conductor of various foreign orchestras: the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, and the Stockholm Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Even after the fall of the Soviet Union, Rozhdestvensky continued to maintain a high profile both in Russia and internationally.

Rozhdestvensky’s wide-ranging repertoire includes a number of high-profile world premieres, but also a natural focus on Russian music of the romantic era. Alto is pleased to make available for the first time outside the former Warsaw Pact Rozhdestvensky’s outstanding recording of Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony with the USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra, coupled with Vladimir Fedoseyev’s recording of Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings.

• Essential Tchaikovsky from an internationally renowned Soviet-era giant of the podium – first CD release outside of Eastern Europe!

Piotr Il’ich Tchaikovsky

Symphony No.4 in f minor, Op.36

1 Andante sostenato 18:47
2 Andantino in modo di canzone 8:17
3 Scherzo. Pizzicato ostinato – allegro 5:03
4 Allegro con fuoco 7:53

USSR Mininstry of Culture Orchestra
Gennady Rozhdestvensky, conductor

Serenade for String Orchestra in C Major, Op. 48

5 Pezzo in forma di sonatina. Andante non troppo. Allegro moderato 11:21
6 Valse. Moderato, dolce e molto grazioso 3:46
7 Elegia, larghetto elegiaco 10:03
8 Finale (Thema Russo). Andante. Allegro con spirito 7:51

Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Vladimir Fedoseyev, conductor

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 / Nutcracker Suite

amuletts — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 23:36:57 +0000

A fiery reading of Tchaikovsky’s final symphony from the end of the Soviet era

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“Outright superb with a warm and close recording of the woodwind detailing of the first movement… blisteringly imaginative Tchaikovsky! Not once does Rozhdestvensky loosen his extraordinary grip. It’s even more effective than the Mravinsky-Leningrad.”
— Rob BarnettMusicweb International

Available for the first time ever in the West, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky conducts a brilliant performance of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 (`Pathetique`). Appearing alongside is a joyful and thrilling Nutcracker Suite by the Moscow State Symphony and Pavel Kogan, whose Alto recordings of the Rachmaninov Symphonies have been hailed for their brilliance.

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No.5 / Moscow Cantata

amuletts — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 23:36:57 +0000

On Rozhdestvensky’s previous recorded version of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5: “Fine rasping brass … with finely expressive detail that has no hint of mannerism. The waltz movement too is beautifully done, easy and carefree with clean textures that would show up even the slightest imprecisions of ensemble.”
— Gramophone
On this recording of the Moscow Cantata: “The final section is grand and the choral part blazes – soloists stand and deliver like true stalwarts.”
— MusicWeb

Rozhdestvensky’s wide-ranging repertoire includes a number of high-profile world premieres, but also a natural focus on Russian music of the romantic era. Alto is pleased to make available for the first time outside the former Warsaw Pact Rozhdestvensky’s outstanding recording of Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony with the USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra, coupled with Gennadi Cherkasov’s recording of Tchaikovsky’s celebratory “Moscow” Cantata.

• Essential Tchaikovsky from an internationally renowned Soviet-era giant of the podium – first CD release outside of Eastern Europe!

Piotr Il’ich Tchaikovsky

Symphony No.5

1 Andante – Allegro con anima 15:12
2 Andante cantabile 13:12
3 Valse – Allegro moderato 5:37
4 Andante – Maestoso allegro vivace 11:59

USSR Mininstry of Culture Orchestra
Gennady Rozhdestvensky, conductor

Cantata “Moscow” for Choir, Soloists and Orchestra*

5 Part 1: “From the Small Source Spring” 5:25
6 Part 2: Arioso “Oh What a Beautiful Star” 2:22
7 Part 3: “The Time Is Coming”, Choir 1:49
8 Part 4: “From the Large Forest” Monologue and Choir 5:20
9 Part 5: Arioso “Am I a Warrior” 3:47
10 Part 6: “The Thunder and Crash is all over Russia” 5:54

Nina Derbina, soprano / Alexander Polyakov, tenor
Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Gennadi Cherkasov, conductor

Recorded 1988 and *1992

Tchaikovsky: Symphonies Nos. 2 “Little Russian” and 3 “Polish”

amuletts — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 23:36:57 +0000

Critics have hailed the first three releases in Alto’s survey of the Tchaikovsky Symphonies conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky. Musicweb’s Rob Barnett wrote, “This Fourth is kinetically magnificent. … It benefits from Russian wind and a towering passion that in the first and last movements has the brass phalanx taking voluptuous rage close to tragic rupture. … The Fifth [has] an indomitable gait and with fiery inspiration in the finale which I had to replay immediately. … The Sixth is outright superb… this is blisteringly imaginative Tchaikovsky! Not once does Rozhdestvensky loosen his extraordinary grip. It’s even more effective than the Mravinsky-Leningrad.”

The Second and Third Symphonies may be less well known than his last three, but they are brimming with imaginative and memorable melodies and high Romantic passion. Rozhdestvensky and his superb orchestra illuminate these works’ grandeur and dramatic episodes, captured in sensational sound.